| In response to Donald Trump bragging about the crowd size during his rally on January 6 that preceded the violent attack on our Capitol, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“It tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump that he cares more about crowd sizes than if a mob violently attacked the Capitol at his command to overturn an election he lost by more than 7 million votes. Between his incoherent complaining and his bizarre (and false) comparisons to Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, Trump is once again showing the American people he’s a narcissistic loser who only cares about himself. Trump has no regard for the police officers injured on January 6 or the damage his baseless election lies have inflicted on our democracy. Voters know that the Trump-Vance ticket poses a dangerous threat to our basic rights and freedoms, and that’s why he’ll once again lose this November.”
WATCH: Donald Trump bragged about the crowd size on January 6 and said the violent insurrectionists “were treated very unfairly.”
Trump: “Those people were treated very harshly… nobody was killed on January 6. But I think that the people on January 6 were treated very unfairly… they were there to complain about an election, and you know it’s very interesting, the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to.”
Newsweek: “Trump Says Jan. 6 Crowd Was Bigger Than MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech”
Josh Dawsey, Washington Post: “‘The people of Jan. 6 were treated very unfairly,’ Trump says. He is now bragging about the crowd size on Jan. 6 — ‘the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to.’”
Trump just last week doubled down on saying he would “absolutely” pardon violent January 6 insurrectionists.
Rachel Scott, ABC News: “140 police officers were assaulted [on January 6]. Their injuries included broken bones, at least one officer lost an eye, one had two cracked ribs, two smashed spinal discs, another had a stroke. Were the people who assaulted those 140 officers, including those I just mentioned, ‘patriots’ who deserve pardons?”
[Trump refuses to answer]
Scott: “But sir, my question is on those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people?”
Donald Trump: “Oh absolutely I would. If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”
Scott: “They’ve been convicted.”
Trump continues to praise and promise pardons for January 6 rioters, who he calls “hostages” and “patriots”…
The Hill: “Trump describes imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters as ‘hostages’”
Washington Post: “Trump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if elected”
TIME: “Trump has sought to recast the insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. ‘I call them the J-6 patriots,’ Trump tells TIME. When asked whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says: ‘Yes, absolutely.’”
NBC News: “Former President Donald Trump promised Wednesday night that if he is elected he will pardon a ‘large portion’ of the people convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
Trump: “January 6, it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to. And they were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable — and it was a beautiful day.”
…while his running mate JD Vance downplays the violence on January 6.
The Hill: “JD Vance says he is ‘skeptical’ Pence’s life was in danger on Jan. 6”
Politico: “[Vance] downplayed the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, when Pence was forced to evacuate the building as rioters called for his hanging.”
Trump, who is vowing to be a dictator on “day one,” told voters they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he’s elected president.
The Atlantic: “Trump Says He’ll Be a Dictator on ‘Day One’”
Trump: “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what – it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.”
Vance has no problem with the idea of Trump using the government to go after his political opponents — even as Trump echoes dictators and warns of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November.
Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN: “Many people have lost American presidential elections over the last 230 years – Trump is the only one to say about violence if he loses ‘it depends.’”
NBC News: “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election”
Kristen Welker, NBC: “Senator, if former President Trump were to win, if you were to be his vice president, would you support him appointing a special prosecutor to go after his political enemies, the Bidens?”
[…]
Vance: “Donald Trump is talking about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden for wrongdoing.
[…]
“I think what Donald Trump is simply saying is we ought to investigate the prior administration.”
Associated Press: “Trump declines to rule out abusing power to seek retribution if he returns to the White House”
Washington Post: “Trump calls political enemies ‘vermin,’ echoing dictators Hitler, Mussolini”
The Guardian: “Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again.”
Trump is still pushing lies about his loss by over 7 million votes in the 2020 election. Vance is right there with him, even refusing to commit to accepting this November’s results.
Associated Press: “[Trump] is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat.”
NBC News: “Re-litigating the 2020 election, repeating false claims it was stolen and casting aspersions on the security of mail voting remain major fixtures for [Trump] on the stump. … He regularly refers to the 2020 election as ‘rigged’ on his social media channels.”
HuffPost: “[Vance] said he would accept a Biden win only if he considered the election to be legitimate. … Vance’s comments illustrate a new tactic by Republican lawmakers, who are now placing conditions on accepting election results.”
New York Times: “J.D. Vance Says He Would Accept the Election Results, With a Caveat”
Vance: “I think the entire post-2020 thing would have gone a lot better if there had actually been an effort to provide alternative slates of electors, and to force us to have that debate. I think it would’ve been a much better thing for the country. … [Trump] was trying to take a constitutional process to its natural conclusion.
“I think it would’ve been extraordinarily disappointing to a whole host of people that I care a lot about if Trump had just taken it [and conceded the 2020 election before January 6].”
Vance: “No real Republican with any credibility in the party is still blaming [Trump for January 6].”
ABC News: “JD Vance says [he] wouldn’t have certified 2020 race until states submitted pro-Trump electors”
New York Times: “[Vance] has said that, unlike Vice President Mike Pence in 2020, he would have helped Mr. Trump overturn the results, by accepting Trump electors that had not been elected by voters.”
Vance praised Project 2025 – which is “undeniably a Trump-driven operation” – as containing “good ideas,” and has cozied up to Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.
Axios: “This is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”
Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”
New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”
Nick Corasaniti, New York Times: “[Kevin Roberts] reacted to the news [of Vance’s VP selection] ‘with a broad smile on my face’ and said that ‘privately, we were really rooting for him.’”
Gram Slattery, Reuters: “Vance is very close to Heritage and even wrote the forward for a book from the think tank’s president. Project 2025 is of course organized by Heritage.” |
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